The World Youth Basketball Tournament tipped off at Old Airport Park’s Kekuaokalani Gym on Saturday. The 17th edition of the event is a five day affair with games running from early in the morning to late in the evening.
The World Youth Basketball Tournament tipped off at Old Airport Park’s Kekuaokalani Gym on Saturday. The 17th edition of the event is a five day affair with games running from early in the morning to late in the evening.
The WYBT has hosted many kids over the years, many of whom go on to play in the NBA. Some of the more notable names to have played in the tournament are Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Mario Chalmers.
“We started the tournament to help the local kids play mainland teams and international teams,” said Tournament Director Christy Gladstone. “It is expensive to take the kids to the mainland so we thought, why not bring the mainland here. We are really proud we are able to provide this level of competition.”
The WYBT draws teams from all over. This year over 40 teams are attending the tournament with about 10 teams representing the Big Island. As for the other Hawaiian Islands, there are two teams from Oahu, six teams from Maui and one team from Kauai. From the mainland, there are teams representing the states of California, Arizona, Washington and Massachusetts. There are also a couple of teams from Alberta, Canada.
“It’s great because all the teams stay at the same hotel, so there is a lot of camaraderie and new friends being made,” Gladstone said. “We like to make this an event so there is a lot of bonding.”
Other than games, the tournament features an opening ceremony with a Polynesian show. On Monday the WYBT will host competition with games that include a hula ball contest, a free-throw and 3-pointer contest, and the always popular 2-on-2 coaches competition.
“The players love seeing their coaches do their thing,” Gladstone said. “It will be fun.”
The tournament also puts together a Big Island tour so the kids can circle the island and learn about the land and culture.
“The kids had to work hard to get here with fundraising and we wanted to provide a positive experience,” Gladstone said. “We get a lot of returning teams so we obviously must accomplish our goal and I am really proud of that. We couldn’t do it without the help of the community.”
For information on future tournaments, visit wybt.com.